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This isn't about figuring out who to pitch to or what to wear to
the pitch meeting or how to follow up on the pitch. This isn't
about any other part of the "sales tunnel" (mainly because I have
no idea how you get to the sales tunnel or how long it takes to
get through it or whether or not you can get reception in there).
This is about the message you get across in 15 or 30 seconds that
is the pitch.

Which is a very simple thing, really. Because there are only two
kinds of pitches: those you believe in and those you don't
believe in.

Here's how to pitch an idea you don't believe
in:

Stifle the urge to weep at what you've become: a person who
is pitching some idea he or she doesn't believe in.

Try not to say um too many times.

Here's how to pitch an idea
you believe in:

1. Talk. I'm a magazine editor, and much of
my job involves pitching--either receiving pitches from writers
or pitching ideas to my boss. The problem with most pitches I
receive from writers I don't know well is that they're introduced
by a list of credentials. Placing credentials at the beginning of
a pitch is an attempt at hypnosis, really. It's a tactic. You
want to set this kind of tactic aside. Tactics are for people who
are going up against an enemy--generals, cops, parents of
toddlers, people who work at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

What you want to be is: cool. "The ones who plainly state,
‘Here's the problem, here's the solution, here's why mine is
better and here's why I have been working my whole life to do
this'--those are the ones we want to identify," says David Lee,
founder and managing partner at SV Angel, a Silicon Valley
investment firm/angel fund with a focus on early-stage consumer
media companies. "If they focus too much on the competition, and
there's a little too much bravado, then I usually back off."

The pitch should be thought of as the first of many conversations
with a partner, not a battle to be won. "You need to be
authoritative but not come across as salesy. Don't be a crocodile
salesman: big mouth, small ears. You need to balance listening
with talking," says Mark Suster, general partner at GRP Partners,
a Los Angeles-based VC firm, and founder of startup accelerator
Launchpad LA. "The best pitch meetings are debates,
discussions--not presentations."

How a Pitch Should
Go
The best way to hone your pitch, if you think it must be honed,
is to pitch to yourself. And there's really only one question to
ask, which is: Are you bored? If you're bored, then the people
you're pitching to will be really bored. And if you're bored,
you're probably bored because you've buried the point. The core
pitch should be about 15 seconds long. One cliché states that you
should be able to pitch any idea over the course of a single
elevator ride. This is true. Even if you're going only one floor
up.

Anyway, there are two parts to the pitch:

Here is what I know how to do.

Here is how what I know how to do can work for you.

"The idea is to show what you're about very succinctly. And then
if you get the first meeting, to be able to show the value and
momentum of your company," says Sizhao "Zao" Yang, an angel
investor and co-founder and COO of BetterWorks, a Los
Angeles-based employee perks and benefits firm. "It's all about
momentum."

It really is all about momentum. The pitch itself is defined by
momentum. Because the pitch is just a bridge. You're already in
good shape--after all, you got the meeting. The pitch is simply
the first checkpoint. Momentum.

A Few Words on
Reactions
The best thing about a pitch is: Everyone in the room wants you
to succeed. Which means you immediately know if it's not working.
You either get nothing or you get something. (And all you need,
really, is something.)

If your pitch results in an awkward stasis that makes everyone in
the room feel uncomfortable, then that's it. Because the bar is
so low and because everyone wants you to deliver a good pitch, if
you get nothing and you have nothing else to give, then it's
over.

If it's being received well, of course, you'll get some sort of
positive reaction, even if it's only a raised eyebrow. The Hush
of Doom or The Eyebrows of Hope. It's pass/fail. (Note: If you
get both the Hush of Doom and The Eyebrows of Hope, gather your
things and walk away, because something isn't right.)

A successful pitch requires belief, confidence, deference and
brevity. In that order. If you believe in what you're saying,
then the rest is easy. Because if you believe, then all you have
to do
is talk. The pitch is just the beginning of a
conversation--hopefully one that goes on for a long time. Years
even.

Key Technical
Matters

The fact that you are "amped" is not something that needs to be
pointed out to the pitchee.